South Africa expedition overview

Few travellers are prepared for South Africa's immense diversity. South Africa offers variety not many countries in the world can: dramatic rugged mountain ranges, rolling grasslands, and fabulous coastlines with beautiful beaches. In addition South Africa offers a great opportunity to view wildlife in its natural habitat.

Due to its sheer size, it is impossible for a team to experience all that South Africa has to offer and perhaps the biggest challenge is to decide what to miss out. Teams will fly into Durban and visit the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu Natal, with an added bonus of the possibility to visit Swaziland, a separate little kingdom north of KwaZulu Natal or Lesotho.

Expedition highlights

• Discover Durban's Zulu culture with a tour of the witch doctor market.
• Horse trek into the remote Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho.
• Make a song and dance by coming face to face with colourful displays of bantu culture... and be prepared to reciprocate!
• Come to terms with the realities of a harsh political history and witness what life is like in post-apartheid South Africa, the 'Rainbow Nation'.
• Chill out in Port St John's, a stunning coastal town that was home to the secret HQ of one of South Africa's only anti-apartheid radio stations.

Things to know

• Make sure you pick up a few basic words in the language of local culture, which may not be straight forward as it could be isiZulu, Afrikaans, Sesotho, isiXhosa, siSwati...
• An important part of Durban's rich cultural history is its substantial Asian community, including many Hindus and Muslims; the Juma Musjid Mosque on Durban's Gray Street is the largest in the southern hemisphere.